Rebels
by Another-Narcissist
Summary: A town in what once was the southeast takes government control to a whole new level,and a group of uglies  and a few pretties question the control.  *Note.This story has a darker view of Tally and Aya.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first story on this site, and I'm not entirely used to it yet. I am a fan of fragments, and since i know some of you hate that, i thought i would tell you that you may see a few once in a while. (I try to correct them).Please review and give ideas or advice? Thank You!**

Ping! "Update Feeds Now." Ping! "Update feeds now." I sighed. What a lovely way to begin the day, being yelled at by the government. Ping! I ripped off my interface ring, only to remember that the pings would keep coming in with my new eyescrenes. The Them had made it mandatory to have your eyeballs ripped out and replaced with computers put in.

I sighed again and roller over to get out of bed.

Ping! I stood up.

Ping! It was enough to drive anyone batshit crazy. "ugh!" I groaned_. Fuck the Them!_ I thought. But I couldn't say it. No one could anymore. Talking like that about our dictator… I mean lovely leaders was a for sure way to get yourself killed. Especially not that the Them could hear everything now. Every single word. Ping! The interface reminded me once again.

"Mirror mirror," I whispered. My wallscrean flickered to life. It was honestly shaped like and old Rusty mirror, with a large wooden frame and everything. The stupid mod cost me almost 200 Points. I stepped in front of it, and it began to "processes" me. After it tested the microscopic incisions in my new eyes to determine that it was me, it brought me to my homescrean. "Saving Serverina" was displayed in bold letters across the top of the wall, followed by a full-bodied still of me, from last night. Before replacing it with the more current one it was taking, it scanned me for any new surge, hair colors, or newly made clothes or anything else that someone deserved face for. It checked my eyescan for a mood to display, and settled on tired. I was thinking more along the lines of angsty or well… I don't know if there's a mood that fits anarchy, but something more like that. Tired works too I guess.

When it was done analyzing my location and making sure I was alone, it began to speak. "Welcome to your homepage Saving Serverina**.** You earned a total of twelve Points last week, and they will now be deposited into your account for general use. This brings your total to 104. Would you like to make a purchase?"

"No thank you Mirror."

"Very well. You lost no face while you slept Saving Serverina. Today is the twenty fourth of January, and you have a total of five classes and three events planned for your attendance today. Would you like me to suggest your outfits for today? It will cost you a total of two Points."

"No thank you Mirror."

"Very well. You have two hours before your fist class begins. Thank you for updating. You may now return to your regular activities. Your next update is in three hours. Goodbye Saving Serverina." Mirror logged off and let me have my wall back.

It wasn't always like this. Supposedly before the Mind-Rain everything was peaceful. But that was before Tally Youngblood came and ruined everything. Yes, supposedly she stopped the government from brainwashing millions of people. But from what I understand, she was more fucked up than anyone else. Not to mention all the new expansion, and the minor fact that she started the first war in close to 300 years. After the peace ended, all the citys needed protection and laws. Our city got The Them.

The few who remember it say it was way worse before Aya and the Extras. I persolaly doubt it. No one out west had even thought about making an economy based on popularity until the Extras got out and everyone started paying attention. Apparently she saved everyone from a dark period in history.

But I call bullshit. The Them had turned the idea into an excuse to always watch you, to know every detail. To stop "revolutionist" like Tally and Aya. There not kidding anyone though. Aya was just a fifteen year old trying to get face. And Tally was just a brainwashed zombie following orders. Not like any of that mattered anymore though.

I walked over to my white board and placed my hand on palm-print. I shut my eyes and thought to remind myself to ping Aaron Attack her Operations homework back. When I pulled my hand off the print, it appeared on the board in beautiful letters. My mother swore that she learned in her Rusty class in school as a littlie that people used to have to write *everything by hand. but that seams out there. People said Rustys had computers too right?

A message at the edge of my eyescreen blinked at me. new ugly. Poor little thing, no one told her about the dorms. Her crumblies were doctors, so they had plenty of Points. She got to dress and act like a pretty all the time, and now she was stuck in uglyville. She got put in mine and the Rebel's dorm. Luckily for her, we aren't quite as particular as some of the other clicks.


	2. Chapter 2

S**o I always for get to do this...disclaimer**...**all the credit goes to the author of course. Also, I'm sorry for the long wait on uplodes, I tend to get quite lazy. Anyways, this will be a short chapter. Don't worry though, the story will pick up soon. I've just got to go over some things. Hope you like it! Read and review please!**

I flicked my fingers in a complicated gesture to tell the bogus eyescreens to pull up Cella's ping. I felt bad for the poor kid. Not many people liked her, mostly for the fact her her family had Points and could *afford the pretty surge, they were just acting like old crumblies. No one in this dorm could even afford the 50 Points for a new set of nails, much less the pretty surge. Of course life-X was still free... but no one knew how long that was gonna last. "Read the ping please," I told the eyescreans.

"Hi Saving Serverina. I uh.. about that thingy today, what am i supposed to do? Um... so yeah. Help me out?" The message read. i sighed At least she had the sence not to mention the trick out loud. Maybe she wasn't as brain-missing as people thought. Aaron Attack and Kirie were planning to kill me when they found out I was going to envite her.

"Shes practicly a littlie!" Aaron had screamed. "Not to mention that we bairly know her?"

"Shes gonna be all spoiled and complain the. Entire. Time. What were you thinking Verina-la?" Kirie had asked exasperated.

Of course, telling her the details of the trick would be harder now that the lovely eyescreans were mandatory and would hear every word. Not very tricky. I flicked my hands again, this time telling the interface to bring up a reply form. "Hola Cella. Come over in about 10? I've got some things to show you before class today." I took the time to play back the audio before i sent the ping, mostly because it had a habit of twisting my voice and making me sound all bogus. i sent the ping out and turned on my volume for the reply.

I chewed up my toothpaste pill on the way to the community hole in the wall. Uglies didn't used to have acsess to one, but with the new rep-econ we had to, otherwise how would the Them know what us little brats liked? Luckely only one person was in front of me today, and after she left I tossed one of my old dorm uniforms into the recycler and the wall spat me out a new one. We had to wear the bogus things in school, to "stop the spread of ugly clicks." Tricky uglies led to rebellion. Not that the pretties since the mind-rain were much different. But at least they got to move to town, insted of staying in the dorms. I'm just glad we get to wear what we want at home. I headed back to my room, and made a hand gesture that made the lights a bit brighter. I took my time sliding into the ugly dorm, regretting changing so early. But I knew I was about to get very lost in my work.


	3. Chapter 3

**So hi everybody(: Sorry again for the really long waits. High school and whatnot you know? Anyways, this was my first time using an iPod to do this, and personally I liked it way better. This chapter should be quite a bit longer. Actually, this whole story is going to be quite a bit longer than I expected. But I got all the major parts of the plot put down. As always, read and review? Thanks so much you guys :D**

"Mirror mirror" I whispered again. Not for an update this time, just to view my feed. It pulled up a "bio-homepage", telling what it thought was my life story and a picture of me at my "most attractive moment." Personally i hated the picture, mostly because of how fake it made me seem. But I'm sure most of that was the system's editing. I motioned with my hands for the wall to tilt, turning it horizontal. I opened my cubby and dug around for my box of memory sticks. Everyone thought it was Rusty of me to keep them now that we had the mega memory system in our new eyes, i liked the idea of something solid to hold on to. Not to mention how bad turning some of the older ones into a huge collective library that the entire city could see. I put my palm on the input tab that pulled up on the bottom of the wall and gave it the operations homework I borrowed from Aaron Attack. I took a memory stick of an old history project I stole once. And made the wall compile them and translate them into Mandarin, French, Spanish, and Japanese. I figured that would keep it busy for a while. At least long enough for me to tell Cella what she needed to know to make it here. Things were getting tougher here, and she was going to have to adapt fast. I checked the news feeds, not to see the bubbly, happy people complain about their lives, but to see if anything… interesting had happened in prettyville. The Crims there had "reserfised", despite the fact that our city had never *had any Crims to begin with. Just another new fad for people to follow.

I heard the door ping ar me, telling me about my little visiter. "Let her in please," I said, and the room quickly responded with a ding and an open door. She was breathless, obviously been running through the dorm scrambling for things. A tiny thing, she was only five foot if that, and very pixie-like. Small, round face, large brown eyes, and flushed cheeks. A closer look at her face brought a shock… she was.. Too pretty. Not a natural, but too close. To… perfect. I tried to remember the last time I saw her, (it had only been once, just for a moment) but I didn't think she had been so… matching. "Hi Cella. You're not in your uniform yet?" I asked. Something had changed..

"No, was I supposed to be? I thought we only had to wear them in school." I sighed at her.

"It comes sooner than you think Cella-wa," I said sarcasticly. She frowned.

"I brought one? Does that count?"

"It *helps. Now get dressed. We have work to do, and I still have to get you ready for the thingie tonight." So much work. I turned my back to her while she changed into the ugly dorm uniform. "You need to do your hair and makeup too. You wouldn't seem edgy enough without them done love."

"Alright. How many points is it? I haven't been paying much attention to prices lately."

"Normaly its arround 20, but… well no one pays for the computer to do it. So we just… improvise."

"How so? Masks are usually a bit more than twenty. Unless… wait, you don't steal them do you?" Her huge eyes grew wider and wider at my silence. I Laughed.

"No love. We just go kinnda rusty with it. We have to draw on our faces. Like they did in history you know? Except ours doesn't look so bogus."

She let out a sigh of releif. "Good. But… how do you *draw on your face? I mean without a mask. That just seems a bit special. (*Special means diffrent still, like in Specials, but now it means an odd special. Not like Tally saw herself*).

I wrinkled my nose at her. "Its not special. Its trendy. We don't all have crumblies to buy us everything."

"My crumblies do not buy me everything! Did you ever think maybe I just work hardee than the rest of you?" she huffed.

"Rawrrr. Fine then. Look are you going or not? We have to decide soon love."

She bit her lip. "I …I guess so. But I'm not going to draw on my face. I'll just get a colored symmetry mask. " I gave her a blank stare.

"To make your face even? Like the morphs do. They arn't much. Only like 35 points. I'll get my hair done too. Don't worry about me okay?"


	4. Chapter 4

I**'d be lying if I said I hadn't forgotten about this story. Not like you guys care. Anyway. Sorry for the wait, just been busy. Looking back at this..its rather embarrassing. Not sure I even want to continue it. I still like the idea, but it might be a bit to damaged to make it.(I mean seriously? ****Serverina**** ? What the hell was I thinking.) Suggestions? **

Since I only had two morning classes, I decided not to bother with my hair. What was the point really? No one in school cared, not the professors, or the students. After morning classes everyone is excused for scanning and processing, and given one hour to deal with whatever it is us uglies do. I had planned on meeting Kirie and Aaron then, but remembered I still had Aaron's paper... and Operations was her second class. I sighed as I pinged her. I pulled up the eyescreen keyboard and motioned to the keys with my hands. The idea was supposed to be foolproof, but I still found myself making mistakes. Hopefully the next software upgrade would fix it. Not like I was planning on sticking around for another upgrade. Her icon popped up on the screen, waiting for the data transfer. I sent it, adding in that I had altered the bit about the operation being vital for a peaceful society. I mean obviously that hadn't worked out.

My first class of the day was systematics. Possibly the most boring of all of them. All we ever did was stare at numbers, and try to find patterns. I never found any, but then again I never looked. Only gave me headaches that lasted till far into the afternoon classes. What did it matter? Not like I was planning on developing software or going into the census department. Kirie was amazing at it, always getting the highest point value in class. Some days she could get as many as 10 points if she was fast enough.

Today we were looking for a special set of numbers, 562001. Doesn't sound too difficult, until you consider the piles and piles of data we had to sort through. With only an hour and a half to find all the uses. I attempted today's assignment, mostly because number sets were easy points. By the end of class I only found it 67 times, compared to the girl to my left's 246.

I glanced over at Kirie, to gauge the actual number the set was used..but to my surprise she had stopped at two. She sat there, her monitor and eyes racing, and I could see by her tense movements her eyescreens were activated over her monitor.

By the time the ping for break sounded, I was downright worried. It was one thing to have a lazy day, but quite another to use eyescreens in class. You had to use the interface to do anything interesting, mostly because only school things and memory could be access inside the class dorm. The professor might be too brain-missing to notice but someone checking the interface would be able to tell, and Kirie wasn't one to risk trouble that might lower her points or rank.

She tried to rush off when class let out, but I managed to catch up with her.

**So yeah I mean I do have plans for this still, there is still *more. I'm just not sure it's really worth continuing. Leave helpful reviews pretty please.3**


	5. Chapter 5

***woo! Back again. And relatively soon too. Don't get used to it you guys. (I lied. It was soon when I began this chapter but... things got in the way. Sorry guys.)**

"Kirie.. what were you thinking? You know better than anyone that we can't use the interface during school hours!"

She looked around fragrantly. "God Verra keep your voice down. I wasn't using the interface okay? I just had to check something,"

"What was so important you left the assignment? That you risked getting in trouble? You know if we get noticed they'll start digging! Then nothing we have is safe, then the Them know everything. We can't risk it,"

"Look okay I know what I'm doing. I wouldn't have risked it if it wasn't entirely beneficial. Now shut up before the eye screens notice the tone change and start reporting. Or worse, listening in."

She turned away, but not before slipping a memory stick in my hand.

I was halfway to my cubbyhole when I remembered the eye screen's built in keyboard system would connect to the monitor. There really wasn't a need for my physical one anymore. Huh. I wonder if I could get any points for recycling it. It was an older model,but the mods I installed must be worth something.

I changed my path so I was heading the right direction to Operations; the hardest class I took. It was just a basic overview, nothing too intensive, but still very challenging. Most consisted of basic biology and the physical aspects of the surge. Except, for this week only, we were focusing on the mental and societal aspects of it all. The Them made sure this bit was well regulated, and *very brief. Don't want us kiddies getting any big ideas.

Not many points to be made here, (which was the only incentive to even go to class now that it wasn't mandatory. But unless you get chosen for a job before your 17th birthday, most of us don't have much choice.)

I took my usual seat beside Aaron and pulled up my monitor. A few little eye twicks and the assignment was right where I needed it. I had used Aaron's as a base, then modified all the details so the interface wouldn't catch the cheating. The profs say it scans the entire document, but it only scans word length and the letters at the beginning and end of lines. A few tiny changes and tada! A brand new paper. I pretended to reread it and sent it in. Everyone else was either checking theirs or working on things for another class, except for Cella. Poor thing was sitting at an almost empty table, looking lost. I sighed. There was nothing to do except invite her over. After all,she was one of us now.

I caught her eye and waved her over to the only empty seat at our table. Chela and Thane didn't look thrilled, but I winked in their direction. They'd just have to get over it. Besides. We had a meeting tonight at the exercise range, and I'd be able to explain everything then.

The prof began prattling on about some aspect of the surge,while Thane pulled out his baby. It could have easily been the oldest thing anyone of us had ever seen, a N-9052. Not an original of course, but still very valuable. Thane was a bit of a techie.. and had requested all of the parts for this ancient game from a wall hole at his brother's apartment in the larger part of town. Well. * richer part of town anyway.

The greatest thing about this little game was it's independence from the interface, which made it useful during class. The bad thing was.. it was difficult to charge. It relied on a battery chip that needed to be charged often. Since no one had anything like that.. we had to make it too. That kind of work can give you a soft spot, even if its just for a bit of machinery.

Cella watched in awe as Thane ran the figure around with the touch screen. "You wanna give it a go kiddo " he said with a light laugh. She shook her head vigorously.

"No thanks. Knowing my luck i'd break it. Not very bubbly for my first day," she looked down at the table.

"Don't sweat it. Its not that fun anyway. I just like seeing people's faces when they see me with it," he replied with a wink.

"Is no one going to say anything about the fact that she just said *bubbly? Really?" Chela snorted. (**and just so you guys know.. its like Shay-la)**. I gave her a pointed look, but naturally she didn't take the hint. "What? Just because her mummy and daddy have a bit of cash we're going to pretend like its okay? No thanks."

Cella looked almost to the point of tears. "Is there something wrong Miss?" the prof asked looking down at Chela.

"Of course not. I was explaining to the newbie here how your class worked, and how amazing and invigorating your lectures are. That's all," Chela had the smile of an angel. But this prof was as close as any pretty could get to a devil. Even her flawless face couldn't hide the fact that she simply wasn't * likable.

"See me after class Miss." The room was dead silent, not one student willing to snicker.

Once the awkward had passed and chatter started up again I explained to Cella about the bubbleheadded slang. "You see... no one uses it anymore. Not after Aya's time. Bubble-speak is dead."

"Plenty of people still do. Besides.. does it really matter? It's just words.. not even that big a deal," she looked down again. I sighed at her.

"Hon it does if you want to stay with us. And yeah people do.. the *pretty ones. Do we look pretty to you? No. We are not pretty, we are not special, and we sure as hell ain't ugly."

"Then what are we?"

"Rebels."


	6. Chapter 6

After the morning classes, most people spend the downtime sleep or really getting ready for the day. I, like so many others now and before me, picked sleep. Or at least I tried to. A ball of very loud, very excited Jax landed on top of me. "S wants to go swiminggggg! Thane and Yua already said yes so I went ahead and requisitioned you some swimmies!" It was hard to hate Jax. With her tiny build and her happy personality, you just ended up wanting to hug her. Someone started a rumor once that she got some type of surge to make you feel that way, but I've known her since we were littlies. She just *was. "Oh and here's your nutrition pill."

I shook my head. "I already ate. And can't we wait on the swimming? I wanted to sleep..."

"No no no! It's always so crowded during rec time so I've decided we're going now. Go gather your little band of followers and hurry up. I'm gonna be real disappointed if you're not there," she giggled and flashed me a wink as she left.

I groaned. I sent a ping to everyone Jax hadn't mentioned and started changing.

The pings returned slowly, and once they had all gotten home I began to open them.

"Um. What?"

"Sorry huh?"

"...joke?"

I frowned. I replayed my ping and sure enough... it was like a mechanical wizard twisted my words. Couldn't understand anything. I typed it out instead and resent.

I pondered for a while on wether I should buy a hair treatment, but in the end I decided not to. No reason to wasting the Points. Jax had left the nutrition pill on the bed, so I grabbed it and swallowed it down. Swimming burned a lot of calories, and the pills don't hold very much.

The affirmative pings rang in, with only one decline; Kirie. Her ducking out of a social event wasn't anything new, even if it was just us. Although, considering earlier today, perhaps I should swing by and see her. But wouldn't that be bothering her? Ugh. I'll be late if I stay here.

The poolhouse is usually empty during morning break, and today was no exception. We joked around and laughed almost drowned each other. Not that the nanos would let that happen, but it was fun to try. Testing the limits of our safety.

The first afternoon class was a large one, but contained few rebels. Combine that with the fact that this teacher was the spawn of satan, and it made for a miserable class period. But we all have our hobbies, and we were thankful that Thane's made life easier on all of us.

Cella's eyes widened at the contraband. "Wh..what is that thing?" she asked timidly.

Thane grinned at her. "This, little one, is a game. It doesn't use the interface, so they can't catch us" he said with a wink.

"But.. even in Rusty times they had an interface right? So how can it work without one..?"

"Someone didn't pay attention in history. They had several interfaces. One was the Internet, then on top of that was the Cloud. The internet was where everything *was, and the Cloud was where everything was stored. See, the trouble with their interfaces was, anyone could make a new one. So every now and then someone would get clever and decide to make an entirely new system for the world to run off of. Then one store used this one and another used that one... until nothing was compatible anymore. You remember the story about Microsoft right?"

Cella nodded. "They're the ones who funded the Interface. Everyone knows that."

"Well by the time someone decided to fix everything, there wasn't much left. Millions of internet spinoffs, with no way to conjoin them, nothing to do but shut them down one by one. Nearly impossible. Microsoft made a ton of techie stuff back then, and they were loosing a lot of money with this whole set up. Since they owned a considerable amount of the Cloud, (not to mention all their techie knowledge) the offered a better solution. They would crash the Cloud and delete the data that fed all the spinoffs, as long as they got to create the new system that was used after. So they made the Interface. Which is all fine and dandy now, but when people had to pay for it? No one wanted to spend money on something they had been making themselves a few years earlier. So a whole new era was born, one where you didn't need the grid."

"You have to admit, the Rusty's got a few things right." I said grudgingly. "I mean I guess they're had to be smart ones, they couldn't *all just sit around burning things."

"Yeah, they spent most of the time burning themselves apparently," Chela snickered. She leaned into Thane for a high-five, but I gave her a push in the other direction. Everyone knows apocalypse jokes aren't funny. Billions died by burning. She landed on her butt with a large clatter. "Hey! What the hell?"

"Chela may I inquire as to why you are on the floor and yelling profanities in my class?" Mrs. Catel. Dear god we are all dead.

Chela rightened herself quickly. In a rare moment of sincerity, she bowed her head. "It was an accident. It won't happen again Mrs. I am very sorry."

"I should hope so. You have two demarets already young lady." She had sauntered her way to our table, and although Thane had the precious baby hidden, we all tensed up. It was irrational after all, a tech scanner couldn't detect it as long as it wasn't on, unlike all other devices. But, when you have something like that, all the hard work, you can't help but worry about someone like Mrs. Catel getting her snooty hands on it.

She snorted. "Does anyone at this table happen to take notes? Do you think I spend my time dictating to be ignored?" We began to stutter, the awful stutter where you know you're caught, but are trying desperately to escape, when Cella spoke up.

"Yes Ms. We just got a little distracted. We're very sorry Ms." I began to panic and tried to motion that no, we most certainly did not have notes, when I glanced down at my screen. There, fully typed, was her lecture. I glanced up at Chela, who was looking wonderingly at her screen.

"That's Mrs." She huffed, but walked away. We all let out a sigh of relief.

"How did you even do that Thane?" I asked.

"That wasn't me. I was cringing internally about baby"

"I did it sorry," Chella said

"You can hack? And you didn't list this among things that might make you useful to us?" I asked astonished. Little's never shut up about their tech skills. Hell even uglies like Thane physically could not shut up about it.

"Hack? I wasn't aware sending something as a read now ping was hacking."

Thane, Chela and I looked at each other.

"Okay fineeeeee." Chela groaned. "She's in and I won't complain anymore okay?"

**(Wow very not soon. This is really, *really rough so sorry. I promise to go back over it correctly some other time okay? Oh and this whole "an-entry-for-one-hour-of-their-time" is done. I decided I hated that awhile back,but half of this was already written so you guys got it. I actually dislike this whole thing, so expect a lot of progress in the next chapter. I swear this was a brilliant idea. Just not correctly executed. I intend to fix this.)**


	7. Chapter 7

After all of Chela's fieaskos, she was put on lock down for the next few days. Drawing attention to ourselves is never a good thing, especially in a negative light. She got a demerit, and that lost us more than 10 Points. Not from her account, but from the joint one we all shared. We all took special pride in this account, because it was more points than any of us had ever seen. We were at several thousand now, but we had collectively been saving for years. The thing is, no one is allowed to pull anything from the account, ever. So she took on kitchen duty to make it back. After a few days of almost unbearable complaining, we had earned enough to requisition a hoverboard.

The Them made hoverboards almost unattainable, mostly because they could *leave. Everyone knew from history that this was how Tally and Aya made their big fuck ups. But why didn't they get rid of them completely? The pretties.

Without the bubblehead surge, the pretties were restless. No one except officials had the money for cars, and anyone who could afford the surge wouldn't be seen walking. So they made them damn expensive so only the pretty's would have access to them. It takes a lot for an ugly to get their hands on one, a pretty sibling, rich crumblies, or, as in our case, hard work and dedication. (From more than five people.)

We all piled into Kirie's dorm room to requisition with her wallscreen, mostly because hers was the nicest. Thane was jumping for joy at the thought of getting his hands on one; he assumed adding the mods would be effortless for someone as techie as him. We were all boning with joy at the idea of riding one, the possibilities were astounding. With it, we could travel to the richer parts of town, head over the river into crumblie-ville, visit friends, siblings, family. We wouldn't just be trapped little uglies.

Everyone was quiet as Kirie spoke. "Maxwell speak."

"Yes master? Your next check in is not required until 2:47. How may I help you?

"Bring me the balance for the Savings Account."

"There are five-thousand and fifty-seven Points in this account master. Would you like to make a purchase?"

"Yes. Bring me the hoverboard shopping page." Jax let out a squeal of excitement as it began the processing. Usually things like shopping were automatic;after all, they wanted you to spend all the points you had. But pages like this were often busy. Rich parents buying their little pretty their first, crumblies decided they needed to get around, and often uglies or littlies dreaming about someday.

Even with all the extra activity, the loading shouldn't have taken more than a minute at most. But still we waited. Until finally the wallscreen spoke.

"Master, I regret to inform you that this page is closed to anyone not of pretty or official status. Would you like to make another purchase?"

"No. Why has the page been closed?"

"No information to report."

"But that's crazy" Thane said angrily. "I was looking at body types just this morning? They can't have taken it down that fast."

"Apparently they did you bubblehead," Chela rolled her eyes. "It would seem they want this page always primed for their 'Top Customers'"

"Yeah okay but that's stupid? We have the points we should be able to buy? It knows we are ready to make a purchase?" Kirie almost whispered. "Why would it cut us out? Unless... it doesn't want us with one," She looked around at us. "That's it you know. The interface shut us out because it doesn't want A BUNCH OF uglies with access to something like that. How come we didn't see it?" she groaned.

"All that work," I sighed. "Well if we can't have this I suppose the only fair thing to do is hand back everyone's points. No reason for these to just sit here."

"Well we could ask Mrs. Maxen? I mean, she would love to help us out and they wouldn't block out a teacher would they?" Jax asked.

"She's not an official or a pretty, and it would still be on this account. So I think they still wouldn't let us." I said

"I have an idea." Cella said quietly. "My brother, he's a pretty. Could he do it?"

"Why would he help out a bunch of uglies?" Yua asked. "I mean, he didn't offer you a place to stay in Old Pretty Town did he? Why would he help?" She let out a small snort as Cella's crestfallen face.

"Because he's my brother? And he didn't get the chance. My crumblies shipped me off here with hardly any warning. He still pings me every day thought. I know he'll be willing to help us." She gave a shy smile. "It won't even take anything tricky."

Chela spoke. "Do you really think they're going to just let six uglies waltz into Old Pretty Town? Yeah Okay."

"He lives in New Pretty Town..."Cella sighed.

Yua laughed, "There's No way in hell we'd make it there. It's swarming with officials who'd love to get a couple of uglies into some serious trouble. We might as well forget about it."

Thane looked thoughtfully for a minute. "Or not? Kirie, pull up a map of the city. I have an idea."

Several hours later we were all in our own dorms, getting ready for the stupidest idea ever heard of. Sneaking into New pretty Town was almost impossible with just one person, and we were trying to get in 5. The entire thing spelled bad idea. I had tried to work out the details, but everyone was too chatty and excited to pay attention. There was no way we'd get though this without getting caught, and then the whole account would be confiscated. Then were would we be?

I sighed. I was dressed very plainly (like always, but tonight had a particular tone of generality.) Simple black shirt, dark pants, and runnable black shoes. Kirie had opted not to go, saying she had a plan if we ended up caught. As long as one of us sent her a distress ping, she would move the money into her account so it couldn't be confiscated by the interface. Or so we hoped. I was pretty sure they could take whatever they wanted.

Ping!

I groaned. The blasted pinging. At least it was from Cella. She would be brief.

"Can I come over? I think there's something we need to discuss."

"Sure but hurry."

A few minutes later there were three tiny knocks at the door. "Open." The door slid open with a slight thwack,and in came Cella. She was dressed plain also, but in more of a gray. She would have to change for tonight. "What is it?"

"We can't all go. I've been going over the plan, there's no way we'd all get past this part." She stuck her hand on the wallscreen and pulled up the map of the city. After a moment of zooming and tweaking, the had the screen pointed at a particularly narrow passage between the walls of two buildings. " a guard watches the entry. My brother has a friend to distract them, but, it won't be long enough for all 5 of us to get through. We need to downsize." There was something odd about seeing her childish eyes go all serious.

"Well you and Thane have to go right? I mean your brother, and he needs to pick the right one. So is that enough?"

S he smiled slightly. "Actually.. I don't get to go. Kyan doesn't want me messing around. He has agreed to help though?"

"So that's four. Is that a small enough number?"

"It needs to be three. You, Thane, and Jax preferably. You for the account things, Thane for techie things, and because if you get caught I have a feeling Jax won't get as much trouble."

"That story isn't true you know. Like, I don't even think there's a surge that could do that." I eyed her evenly.

"I'm not stupid S. I'm just saying, whatever she's got it works for her, so make sure she knows what her job is." She began pulling the map off the wallscreen. "And make sure she knows she doesn't have too. I would have for her to get into trouble because of me. But, it would be helpful if she acted lost or something. Then they'd take her to Kyan's anyway."

"Fine but you tell her. I have to be the one to tell Chela it's off." She nodded and headed on her way. I winced. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

**(So two this close together isn't that bad right? And this next one is where all the action comes in ^.^ This is also sure to be full of mistakes, so if you see something point it out so I'm sure to fix it when I go back over it. Review please:)**


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